Songbird (35 page)

She sighed. At least he shouldn’t be too far away. Bran told Leona he’d wait three days, so that gave her plenty of time. A good thing since the day was half over. Her heart beat a little faster in anticipation of seeing him again. She couldn’t imagine her life without him.

Together, they would plant the seed and the new Tree would be a link to her people. The Tree wouldn’t be the same as the one in the grove, because it wouldn’t need magic to survive, but it would keep the little magic left to this world alive, and serve as a buffer between darkness and light, keeping the powers in balance.

Her horse grazed on the far side of the trees. She sang three notes and it perked up its ears in her direction before cantering over. It took a while to get everything situated without help. The saddle had to be tightened twice, and blankets, supplies and waterbags, secured.

Not used to doing this work, her patience was frazzled by the time she mounted up. Finally on her way, she got her bearings and headed for the ridge.

It wasn’t far, and as she got closer, she expected to see him standing at the top, watching for her. She could hardly contain her excitement. Scanning the ridge, she found it empty, but pushed on hoping he was on the other side. Once she arrived, her heart sank with disappointment. Where was he? He must have continued on, but when? How far ahead had he gone?

Mild panic that he had left her set in, but she tamped it down. They still shared the bond, and she could find him easily. Opening to him, dismay caught her breath to encounter a thick barrier. She concentrated on cutting through it, but found it too deep to penetrate.

With cold comprehension, she recognized the cause, and her stomach clenched. A wall of grief cut him off from her. She staggered under the weight. He carried it like a cloak of protection, a dark and solid presence, cutting him off from the rest of humanity. She understood how it hurt him. It went deep, too deep to break.

She hated to find him hurting so much, and there was nothing she could do. In sudden comprehension, she spurred her horse to a gallop. Without hope, Bran would never wait for her, and with the barrier, she didn’t know how to find him.

She reasoned that he couldn’t be too far ahead, and tried to think where he would go. He would probably head straight for Turner to explain what had happened. Turner was the last person she wanted to see, but she hoped to catch up to Bran long before that.

The line of trees came into view late that night. With the moon and stars to light the path, she continued on, hoping to find Bran there with the rest of Turner’s men. Her hope turned to ashes, to find the deserted remnants of a camp.

But he had been here. She felt traces of him everywhere. It brought a certain amount of comfort, and she decided to rest for a few hours. She unsaddled her horse and readied her blankets. The water gave her nourishment, and she determined only to sleep a few hours before starting on the trail again.

Before closing her eyes, she found the new star in the sky. With the Kalorians gone, and Bran so far ahead, she experienced a sudden stab of loneliness. It was a poor consolation for all she had gone through, but she was determined not to wallow in self-pity. She had a job to do, and no matter what happened, she’d find Bran and make things right.

In her need, she reached out to him, and managed to find a small crack in the barrier. It was probably there only because he slept, but it gave her a chance to touch him, even if he was asleep. She poured her love through the crack and felt an immediate response.

The barrier came partway down and she reached out to his essence in quiet greeting. Longing drenched her with sweet abandon, and she sent a pulse of steady reassurance that she was there, that he didn’t need to grieve for her.

Like a dream she felt his arms around her, his warm breath stirring the hair on the top of her head. She breathed in the scent of him, luxuriating in his embrace. The steady beat of his heart was like a symphony to her ears, and she relaxed into the curve of his neck.

Sometime later, she awoke, disoriented to find herself alone. In quiet realization, it disturbed her to be so close to Bran and yet so far away. With frustrated energy, she gathered her things and set out in the early hours of dawn, determined to catch up with him.

She couldn’t bear to be apart. Not after all they’d been through, and all she’d given up for him. It sent an ache through her chest to know he grieved so deeply and all she wanted was to hold him in her arms. As the hours passed, she imagined each step bringing her closer to him. But with each turn of the road, disappointment became her constant companion.

It seemed he ran away from her as quickly as she tried to reach him. The bond was useless, and with his barriers set in place, it was stronger than before. As evening fell, she reached the outskirts of the city and her heart lifted. She hurried through the streets toward the inn where they’d first met up with Jax.

Passing this way brought back the terror of their escape from the king’s soldiers, but she brushed it off. Things were different now. The king was dead and the supply of
sym
probably thin, if not completely gone. She couldn’t sense anyone using it, and relaxed her tense shoulders.

Relief swept over her at the welcome sight of the inn. Hoping he’d be there, her heart swelled with anticipation. She turned the corner to the back entrance and found the window to Bran’s room dark. Disappointment crashed over her, but maybe he was asleep? The stairs creaked underfoot, and she held her breath and knocked.

No one came. Even though she’d expected it, her heart still broke a little. Remembering where Bran had left the key, she pried up the floorboard and sighed with relief to find it there. With a surge of hope, she inserted the key and opened the door.

The room was empty, but full of his presence. He had been here, and probably spent the night. That meant he was a full day ahead of her. She sighed with bitter resignation. How many days before he stopped long enough for her to catch up?

She stabled her horse with money from the stash hidden in his room, and kept the grove water with her. She couldn’t take a chance on losing it, not when she needed it to plant the seed. At least she was sleeping in a real bed tonight, and that took away some of the sting. The pillow carried Bran’s scent, and sometime in the night, she dreamed that he slept beside her.

****

Morning came, and Teya blushed, remembering the turn her dream had taken. His kisses had felt so real, and her response full of passion. She flushed to realize that in his sleep, Bran had no barriers, and the bond between them opened freely. It encouraged her, yet frustrated her at the same time.

With the barriers down between them, he had to know she was close. Maybe now, she could finally reach him. She sat up, opened the bond, only to meet a solid, unyielding wall. This time, he seemed even more determined to block her out, and her shoulders sagged with discouragement. What was he thinking? Couldn’t he realize she was here?

She shook her head, trying to see it from his point of view. If he really thought she was gone, these ‘dreams’ would be torture for him. It made sense that he would block her out if it caused him pain.

Disheartened, yet resigned, she released her hold on the bond, determined not to push him further away than she already had. She only hoped it didn’t take much longer to find him.

If Bran went to Turner, he had probably gone yesterday. She debated that course as well. Chancellor Turner would know how to find Bran, but she couldn’t trust him. What if he decided to detain her? More than that, she didn’t want anyone to know she was here. The Kalorians and the Songbird were gone, and that was the way she wanted to keep it.

What would Bran do now? Where would she go if she were him? She’d go home. The more she thought about it, the more right it seemed. He could have crossed into Braemar yesterday, but there was a slight chance he would be going today. If she went straight to Braemar, she might catch up with him. She hoped that was the case, because once he made it to Braemar, she had no idea where to look for him.

****

Bran woke, slightly disappointed that he hadn’t dreamed of Teya. That made two nights in a row that she hadn’t troubled his dreams. He didn’t know which was worse. In his dreams, she was real, but waking to find her gone was like losing her all over again.

He swallowed. He didn’t know how to let her go. The only thing that would banish thoughts of her was hard work. That’s why he had volunteered for the Southern Boundary. It was about as far away from the Old Country as he could get, and the climate was hot and dry. Not a place most people wanted to go. But at least in that place, there were no reminders of her.

Rasmussen thought Bran was joking when he first requested it, but agreed willingly enough. Bran’s command of the language made him invaluable. There was always room for another translator willing to help the people in distributing medicine and food, and building schools and homes, along with countless other projects. The work never seemed to end, which was just what he needed right now.

His train left at noon, but Bran was already packed and ready to go, so he spent the morning prowling through the house. He regretted the fact that he was leaving it empty again. It was a nice place, but he was never home much, and wondered if he should sell it.

The rooms were comfortable, although sparsely furnished, but airy and light with large windows that let in lots of sunshine. When he’d first bought it, he’d imagined raising a family here, but now the only family he could see himself with included Teya, and that would never be.

He ambled through the back courtyard and out into the trees. A soft breeze ruffled his hair, accompanied by the trilling of birds. The woods behind the house were the main reason he’d bought the property. It amazed him to realize that he owned half the forest and part of the mountainside spread out across the area. It was a beautiful place, and deep in his heart, he didn’t want to give it up.

The gurgle of a small stream welcomed him and he stopped, letting the water run through his fingers. The solitude of the glade always brought him comfort before, but now it seemed to weigh him down with memories of another grove.

This time, instead of pushing the memories away, he embraced them, feeling again the wonder of Teya’s song. The song they had sung together in the grove. He remembered the haunting melody that whispered over him in a warm embrace and filled his soul, heightening the awareness of his senses.

With deep concentration, he closed his eyes and sang the notes he could recall, but only got so far before losing the tune. How did it go? He tried again. The first few notes came easily, but he faltered over the next and lost the tune again. His heart began to race.

All at once he knew he had to find that melody. It was all he had left of her, and he didn’t want to lose it because it meant he’d lose her. He couldn’t lose that too. With determination, he tried it again with a stronger voice.

He got even further this time and was on the verge of remembering the entire thing when he lost the direction and floundered. Out of the blue, another voice caught the unfinished melody. A sweet, pure voice that belonged to the one person he thought he would never see again.

Bran jerked shakily to his feet and spun around. There, not more than ten feet away, stood the most beautiful vision he had ever seen. His throat constricted in surprise, and he could scarcely believe his eyes.

“Teya?” Trembling, he closed the distance between them. As he reached for her, she fell into his arms. “It’s really you!”

She smothered him with kisses, and he finally closed his mouth and kissed her back. Deep inside, the black cord of grief cracked open and a shock of awareness flooded his senses. She became a part of him, tied through the bond with a connection that could never be broken. Her love resonated with his, augmenting his own until all he felt was liquid fire.

“Teya.” he pulled away, breathless and nearly out of his mind.

“I’m here to stay,” she answered his unspoken question. “I didn’t go…I’ve been trying to catch up with you ever since the grove was taken. I didn’t know where you were.”

He had no idea. Had she been trying to reach him all this time? “The dreams…that was really you?” She nodded, and a strangled gasp tumbled from his lips. “Of all the... I can’t believe it. You were here all along... Teya…don’t ever leave me again.” He took her in his arms and held her as tight as he dared without hurting her.

“I didn’t,” she mumbled against his chest.

Bran groaned deep in his chest, then smiled crookedly and pulled away to catch her gaze, hardly daring to believe she was here. His voice lowered to a husky whisper. “I love you Teya. If I start kissing you again, I won’t stop.”

“Bran,” she said, breathing his name like a prayer. “It’s all right. I don’t want you to stop. Ever. We belong to each other. Now and forever. I didn’t tell you before, but the bond…it makes us…life-mates. What you call married.”

Bran’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. “What?”

“The ceremony in the grove…it’s a joining of heart and soul,” she explained. “I belong to you, and you belong to me. We always will, because of our love.”

He didn’t know what she expected, but she held her breath as if waiting for him to explode with anger. Instead, he began to laugh. A small chuckle at first, then with more abandon until she joined him and laughter rang through the trees. He picked her up off her feet and twirled her around in wild abandon, until they fell in a tangle of arms and legs.